Help, I’ve developed a heart murmur

[Wild4Stars]

I am 61 years old and was just told at my annual check up last week that I have developed a heart murmur. This is the same doctor I’ve gone to for probably 6 or 7 years and she says this is the first time she has heard it. I’ve been vegetarian for 13 years, vegan for 3 and mostly McDougall for about 18 months. I say ‘mostly’ because I have had some very occasional, very small amounts of oil. I weigh 118 pounds with a goal weight of 108. I’m 5’2” and the most I have ever weighed in my life is 135.

I am on no medications; I was on two different antibiotics about 4 months ago for an infection that I got in my finger / fingernail. I had the flu just after Christmas for the first time in over 30 years and took Tamiflu for 7 days. These are the only medications I have taken in the past 30 years.

Any idea what can cause a heart murmur to develop at this stage in life? My last check-up was December 2011 and there was no murmur then. Has to be something that has happened in the past 15 months.

I am going tomorrow morning for a 2D Echo. A non-invasive way to view the heart and try to determine what is causing this murmur. My on-line searches have just left me more confused than informed. ?

I have a fear that she is going to recommend some drug or procedure that I’m not going to be willing to participate in. Are there any McDougallers that have experience with this and would be willing to share?

[Burgess]

Here is what I have learned to do in similar situations:
1. Ask to see the evidence, such as an EKG, if appropriate, and ask the doctor to show you where the murmur is.

2. Ask yourself what symptoms you are suffering as a result of the supposed problem -- nausea, pain, dizziness, weakness, loss of appetite, inability to exercise daily, or what?

3. Consider getting a second opinion.

4. Be sure to ask your doctor to rate the problem: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the worst recorded, where is your supposed problem?

5. Ask yourself if your doctor thinks there is an actual problem, and if so where the threat is -- or is your doctor simply being precautionary. (I personally do not support the precautionary principle as a guide.)

6. If an actual problem has been identified, ask about the range of treatments if any. (I try to start with the mildest treatment and work up, but many doctors like to start in the middle and back up if the treatment injuries the patient. Your choice.)

Sometimes Wikipedia is helpful as the first step in research. It is always best to test it by checking other sources you consider reliable. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_murmur

[ETeSelle]

You may well have had one for years and no one heard it before now. Be sure to get it graded--there is a very specific system for grading murmurs, and low-grade murmurs are apparently not worth worrying about.

And take Burgess' advice!

[Wild4Stars]

Thank you both for some very common sense advice. I'm going to ask about and follow all that you have suggested.

I have NO symptoms. I think that's what has made this all seem so unbelievable. I meet with her on April 4 to review the results of the 2D Echo, I'll know more than.

Thankfully my doctor knows my preference to avoid drugs and procedures that treat symptoms. We've had some very good discussions about it and she agrees with my decisions.

Thanks again.

[ETeSelle]

Well, the doctor should have graded it. Get that info.

[Wild4Stars]

Well, the doctor should have graded it. Get that info.

She didn't grade it. She did say it was loud enough she would not have missed it in previous exams.

[ETeSelle]

Well, she should grade it. Ask her to do that.

Here's some info:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/heart- ... ION=causes

Changes to the heart due to aging or heart surgery may also cause an innocent heart murmur. Innocent heart murmurs may disappear over time, or they may last your entire life without ever causing further health problems.

[Wild4Stars]

I did run a high fever when I had the flu in December. Tylenol only lowered it slightly, aspirin did no better. Possibly that's what has created this "innocent" murmur. I like the term innocent.

[Lesliec1]

I was told many years ago that I had a heart murmur. So I had a test (EKG? ECG? can't remember) and nobody seemed too worried about it. They just cautioned that if I get say, dental surgery, I should be more careful and get antibiotics ahead of time. Sorry I don't know details or numbers. I kind of forgot about it and my GP never re-tests or anything so I guess it's not an issue any more.

It's scary when you hear that though! Good luck and hope it turns out to be "nothing special."

[ETeSelle]

My dad had a murmur due to a minor heart valve abnormality. He had it for 70+ years and it never caused him a problem.

Then the doctors told him that he should probably go ahead and get the valve replaced b/c it might cause more problems as he got older. I begged him to wait, get a second (and third) opinion, but no. During the pre-op checks they decided that he also needed a double bypass!! He was thin and in great shape--walked all the time--and ate better than most Americans. I again tried to reason with him--he was asymptomatic--there was NO HURRY.

But the doctors know best. <sigh>

To make a long story short, they eff'd up the bypass and apparently failed to give a drug that would have stopped the small heart attacks he apparently had (without knowing it) over the next few months. I am fuzzy on the details (b/c he mostly refused to discuss it with me), but apparently that caused more damage and the heart valve was also not working as it was supposed to. So they put in an on-demand pacemaker. Then when that wasn't working well, they clipped the A-V nodes, making him 100% dependent on the pacemaker. He's on warfarin and a million other things. He now has balance problems and can't feel his feet (doctors have no idea what is causing this and don't really seem to care).

He's spent 10 years like this now. He shuffles along like an old man (I know he IS one, but if he'd been able to keep moving as he used to, that wouldn't have happened). His quality of life has been severely compromised.

He still won't blame the doctors.

All I can say is that it will be a cold day in HELL before I let them get their mitts on me. Unless I'm coding, no way. I have no doubt that if my dad had not let them do that surgery, even if he didn't start McDougalling, he would have spent the next 10 years with good quality of life. Maybe he would be dead by now--maybe not. But he would have been happier.

[Wild4Stars]

I can't imagine what they would have to tell me to get me to let them do all that. I'm inclined to be like you. Don't touch me. Especially since I have no symptoms.

The 2D Echo will give us photos of my heart that we can supposedly tell what is causing the murmur. It's a non-invasive test. The way it was described I think it's much like a sonogram.

[nancylouise]

I was told several years ago that I have a heart murmur. It causes no real problems.It may that as we age, some things kind of wear. I am not worried.

[Debbie]

I developed a heart murmur during my last pregnancy. Since my doctor had been my doctor for my previous pregnancies, she assumed it would go away, as she had never heard it before. She did not detect it at my 6 week post partum check up. Ironically, during that pregnancy I also was group B strep positive where I was not during my first 2. Who knows if they were connected.

[mab56]

Sorry to hear about your heart murmur Wild4Stars but its good that you have no symptoms. I'm curious when was the last time you had your b12 checked and do you supplement with b12 at all? I think I read some where that antibiotics can lower your b12 but I'll be damned if I can find the link to that.

[Wild4Stars]

Last time B12 was checked was December 2011 and yes I do supplement. I had blood tests done last Tuesday, should have the results sometime this week.